Advice and Inspiration

I feel a lot of the time, being an actor is extremely difficult. Often we end up in jobs we don't love doing and in time, our performance skills go unpracticed and forgotten. So, here's the advice: stay true to yourself. If performing is something you want to do professionally and it truly is your passion, then stay true to yourself and do what you love to do. Practice all the time! Practice in the mirror, practice to a camera, read plays and watch movies and learn from other actors! Stay faithful and disciplined to your passion and one day you will succeed. Also, don't ever take on a job you're not passionate about, and I'm not talking about the receptionist job, or the waitressing job, because, even though we're actors, we do need to eat, and sometimes there just isn't enough work to guarantee food on the table. No, what I'm talking about is, is the small performance jobs like Halloween gigs, or christmas gigs that you think 'oh well, it's performance and at least I'm acting'. My advice is, if you're not passionate about performing in the show, then don't do it, because you'll start to dread it, and it'll start feeling negative, and really when it comes to performing, nothing should be a negative!

So, in keeping with the upbeat mood of the post and the advice, I find the easiest way to stay passionate is to be inspired! I love going to the cinema and I'll go whenever I have the money to go, and while I'm sitting in the theatre, I honestly do think to myself 'one day, you will be on the screen'. And it's just a little positive thought to myself. I know it's a long way off but it helps me believe it really is achievable.

Also, watch movies starring your favourite actors, this is another great way I become inspired. I love to watch Angelina Jolie, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Jennifer Lawrence and Idris Elba. These are the actors I'm seriously addicted to watching in films, and on TV. I just feel so inspired by their styles and feel I can learn a lot from just watching them!

I also recommend visual aids when it comes to trying to stay positive and disciplined in your field, so for example, putting up film posters of your favourite movies, or cut out pictures of your favourite actors. These visual aids help me feel positive and stay focused on what it is I am trying to achieve.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful evening! Thank you for your support and thank you for reading!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Best

Pagan

England!!!

Hi all, so I know I haven't posted in such a long long time, but here is a brand new update!

Other than some extra work, I haven't been on the acting scene very much! I have been involved with a few performances over Halloween and now during the Christmas period with the National Leprechaun Museum here in Dublin. The shows are interactive and just general good craic so it's been a lovely little creative outlet, rather than just standing at the reception desk! 

But in other news, I have decided to move to London for quite a short period of about 3-6 months in January! And let me tell you, I'm terribly excited!! I cannot wait to get over there and to meet the amazing acting community that I've heard such great things about! 

So essentially I'll be spending time with my grandmother and my family in Crawley and then heading in and out of the city to explore audition workshops, meeting at spotlight and what nots! And hopefully I'll land a few auditions and get seen by some great Casting Directors and all that jazz! Now I know it's not gonna be all rainbows and sunshine, and it'll be super hard, because lets face it the pond is bigger, and there's a whole lot more fish! Yikes! The competition is fierce in London but I've heard great things about the support from the acting community over there and I have high hopes (although cautious, I'm thinking positive!)

Also, in case anyone was looking for me, I have a youtube channel that I will be uploading weekly videos to, hopefully all monologues but I'm sure I'll ramble off at one stage and start to talk a bit more about Acting life. 

you can find me here: https://www.youtube.com/user/appeleyes

and I currently have a beauty based blog and vlog too:
Blog: whimsyofme.wordpress.com
Vlog: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxoQkIb_lm4HNjNbFSDO0Ew

Thanks so much for checking it all out guys! if you like what I do, please like and subscribe!

Also what are your thoughts about London? I am also very interested in the acting scene in Brighton, does anyone know anything about that?

Thanks for your support!

Peach Out!
xxxx

"I couldn't cry"

So when reviewing some of my older posts I came across the post entitled "Shite", and basically described how I felt my performance was rubbish because 'I couldn't cry'...

Ok so I've come a long way since then! and I have learned a great little piece of advice that will stay with me forever and I actually remember that is was George Clooney who said it, on his Inside the Actors Studio interview. And the advice was, in my words, not Clooney's, It's not about being able to cry. That isn't what defines a good performance. Because, if you think about it, most people, being self-conscious human beings, try NOT TO CRY.

So if you go back and watch the very sad scene in The Descendants, where George's character is beside is wife's bedside, he is actually trying his hardest, NOT TO CRY, which makes him well up. YOU see?

Crazy right? So That is definitely something I will always try. If I don't feel the emotion to cry in the scene, then I will play it as if i'm trying not to cry which will probably make me cry.

Also a great piece of advice, comes from a great book called "The Actor and The Target" by Declan Donnellan, and it goes something like this 'trying to make yourself feel something is like trying to shit from your ear'..

this is gold where I'm concerned now. whenever I am acting now, and I don't feel something, then I'm going to play what I feel, rather than 'trying to cry' or trying to 'be angry', because I'm sure the text will convey whatever the emotion of my character is, without me trying to over-do it by over acting and trying to force myself to feel something on stage.

Hmm... so I'm definitely not going to worry about 'trying to cry' anymore and I'm sure as hell not gonna try and force myself to feel and emotion on stage, because lets face it, it'll probably just look really fake and horrible anyway!

So are there any golden pieces of advice you guys follow?

Are there any questions you want answered or would like me to research?!

Thanks for reading!

Peach Out! x

Can YOU be a successful actor?

The answer is very simple. But only you can answer it. How badly do you want it?

The industry in Ireland is VERY small, so if you really want to be successful here, or in fact anywhere, you just have to work hard! Thats it really!!

Do you have a headshot? Is it a good headshot? Don't tell me you have no money for a headshot when I'm sure you or someone you know has an Iphone! Go out and take a picture on a good day with good light and it will suffice until you can earn enough to get a headshot photographer or even just a portrait photographer (probably cheaper)! If you have at least an iphone 4S then you've got an 8 megapixel camera right there! which will take very decent photographs! So go out, and ask around if you or someone you knows has a good camera phone. Ask what the megapixels are and then just go out and take a few shots. Here is some solid advice for your headshot:

Be natural: that means very little make up please! If they need to make you up they will!
                  Also your hair, keep it simple, up or down it's not very relevant as they are looking at your
                  face!!

Light:   Good lighting!! Women are normally light from slightly above, which is more flattering and
             creates a nice glow in the eyes. Men are more often light from the side.

Background:   It doesn't really matter as long as your are in focus. So if it's plain white then thats fine,
                     but it can be a brick wall or greenary or anything, just as long as it's not in focus

Editing:  Do not over edit your photos! No crazy photoshopped perfect skin, they don't want you to
              look like a model! They want to see the real you, so no glam shots!

Smile or no smile? Well I prefer not to smile but I suggest you take a few pictures with it each way and see what works best for you. But if it's a smile, try think of something genuinely funny, you don't want a picture with a fake cheesy grin.

Now, moving on! Once you've got your headshot, do you have an up to date Resume?? It should have the list of past work you've done or are currently working on. And it should probably follow this type of pattern:

Date      Production       Role     Director     Company

And use these under the categories of Theatre and Film and Television.



Showreel.

TIP NO.1:
NO MONTAGE!!!!! PLEASE GOD NO FRIGGIN MONTAGE!! Directors and Castign Directors have announced countless times that they do not want to see a 30second montage of footage of you set to music at the beginning of your showreel! They'll skip it anyway! So don't put a montage in there!

TIP NO.2:
If you are making a showreel, just keep the editing simple, and start with one of your best scenes (although probably not the one where you're screaming your head off), maybe it's a good idea to ease them in.

TIP NO.3:
I know you love that monologue scene you're in, but don't forget to include dialogue scenes where you actually have less dialogue than the other actor, but obviously a lot of reaction footage time. Casting Directors want to see that you can listen to the actor you're playing opposite and see you react. You don't always have to be talking!!

TIP NO.4:
Don't send it to casting directors through email or something where they have to DOWNLOAD it. NO NO! Rather upload it to a private youtube site or Vimeo (this is my preferred choice) and send them a LINK. This is much less hassle to a director or casting director, as they just need to click and follow the link. So much easier for them!

TIP NO.5:
It's not essential to have a showreel. But it is a huge benefit to have some sort of material you can show them. If you're unrepresented and applying for a role to the casting director directly, then it actually might be a better idea for you to just upload a selection of different clips from the projects you have done. This means that if you're going for a soft character, and you have a specific scene in which you played a character which was very similar, you can just send the casting agent/director a direct link to that scene. This is more beneficial to you as they see it immediately, rather that if that scene is in the middle of your showreel and they never get to it because they only watched the first 20 seconds. So a selection of clips might be a very good idea. (this is why I like vimeo!)

And finally, once you have your headshot and resume and possibly a showreel, go out and get it! If you have an agent, send this info to your agent and make sure they are putting it to good use! If you are unrepresented, then send it to every agent, casting agent or director you can! Make sure everything is clear! Who you are, where you come from and what you are hoping to achieve ("I'd like to apply for... role", etc)

Be strong and confident in your own skin. Like you as a person and they will like you as a person. Be yourself, be natural and most importantly work hard! Fight for it! Go out and get involved in everything on camera that you can!

Good luck!

Peach out!

Self taping an audition

Oh gee... I seriously hate self-taping for an audition because you have time to analyze and stress. The worst thing about self taping an audition is having one day to do it...

I had one day to self tape an audition for a short film because the actual audition was a good while away and I had somewhere to be that night which was extremely important for me. So I got my sides and realized straight away, this is something I can't do on my own. So ensue another dilemma... My boyfriend who is doing media studies is in Wexford, I'm in Dublin... so he's out. My brother had just returned to Wexford the day before.. so he's a nope too.. I couldn't exactly get my grandmother to do it so my last and only option was Dramsoc...


Oh let me tell you there are not a lot of people willing to give up their day to help you. That's a fact!! Luckily I had a good friend in Dramsoc who would read with me and hold the camera... but only after 6pm... My audition needed to be done and uploaded by the next morning at the latest.

So fine, it was the best I could hope for. But doing a scene is so hard when you self tape because you can't just relax. You're gonna do the scene, then watch the play back then do it again and again.. it's really time consuming! and Then you feel bad for taking up other's time.  But I got it done after about 4 hours... (4 scenes in total) and I uploaded and sent it off.

I would totally prefer to go to the audition but sometimes that's just not possible.

My only advice so far is so find a very well lit room and use a good camera. If you need to hire a studio for an hour or two then you should do it, if you get the part it could be worth it. I'm not sure about filming it in the context that the script states, e.g., if it's a kitchen scene, film it in the kitchen. I will ask a few casting directors about this and see what they come back to me with.

Have you ever self-taped? any advice?

Peach out.